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Jul 24, 2018

North Korea removes key facilities at missile launching station

Satellite images show that North Korea has begun dismantling major
facilities at a rocket launching site used to test long-range ballistic
missiles, a U.S. think tank said.

North Korea appears to have started removing key facilities, such as a
missile transfer structure and a rocket engine test stand, used to
develop engines for ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles at the
Sohae Satellite Launching Station in the northwestern province,
satellite photos revealed by 38 North showed.

"Since these facilities are believed to have played an important role in
the development of technologies for the North's intercontinental
ballistic missile program, these efforts represent a significant
confidence building measure on the part of North Korea," 38 North said.

The dismantlement has been made as a follow-up of North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un's pledge to dismantle one of the missile test sites at the
June 12 summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

CBS identified that it was the Sohae Satellite Launching Station that
Kim promised to destroy, citing U.S. government officials in June.

The July 20 photo showed that work was underway to remove structures at
the launch pad and the engine test stand. Another photo taken two days
later shows further progress in removing the launch pad and the
continued presence of a crane and vehicles thought to be used for
dismantling structures.

The July 22 photo shows a visible progress made in the dismantlement.

This Sohae Satellite Launching Station had been used to test major long-range ballistic missiles and satellites.

The facility, completed in 2009, was first used to launch the Unha
3-rocket in April 2012. In February 2016, the North launched its
Gwangmyeongsong-4 satellite at the site, a month after the fourth
nuclear test, according to Hankyoreh.

The South Korean Presidential Office welcomed the North's dismantlement of its missile launch site on Tuesday.

"It's a good sign, better than doing nothing. They are taking it step by
step toward denuclearization," said Nam Gwan-pyo, deputy director of
the presidential office's National Security Office, according to Yonhap.

Nam added that it requires an analysis of the North's intention for
conducting the dismantlement in a discreet manner. The North didn't turn
it into a spectacle as they did with the Punggye-ri nuclear test site
in May. It invited multinational foreign press corps to watch the
demolition of the site.By
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/32064